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62
public relations as a field that is superficial and all about celebrities (Morris &
Goldsworthy, 2008, p.6). While the show garnered a large following and awareness of
public relations increased, Jones’ character did not necessarily accurately represent the
profession.
As Sex and the City came to an end, a new type of genre surfaced on network
television: reality television. In only a year after the Sex and the City season finale, reality
television jumped from seven to 23 shows on broadcast television, not including those
airing on cable networks (Ferris, Smith, Greenberg, & Smith, 2007, p. 490). Since then,
reality television has become one of TV’s most popular genres (p. 490). While previous
research analyzed the portrayals of fictional PR roles, reality television provides a new
type of content to study. Since such a large number of women are in the field, study of
women in public relations is indicative of the industry as a whole. With reality television
as an integral part of society, this new genre needed to be examined since it was
uninspected in previous research in media’s portrayal of public relations. More
specifically, since there is an abundance of women in public relations, the role of the
female publicist on reality television necessitated further research.
The women on PoweR Girls and The Spin Crowd were shown as feminine and
overtly sexy, while Kelly Cutrone and her business partners on Kell on Earth were shown
with many of the masculine characteristics mentioned by Fateri and Kleiner (1992, p. 14),
Reinharz and Kulick (2007, p. 257), and Katz. (2003, pp. 341 – 358). Although the
glamorous parts on Kell on Earth appeared significantly less than those on PoweR Girls
and The Spin Crowd, the series did illustrate Miller’s (1999) and Morris and
Object Description
| Title | Power party girls, good looking crowds and one hellish boss: The portrayal of the female entertainment publicist on reality television |
| Author | Hashem, Camille Renée |
| Author email | chashem@usc.edu; chashem87@gmail.com |
| Degree | Master of Arts |
| Document type | Thesis |
| Degree program | Public Relations |
| School | Annenberg School for Communication |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-04-01 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-05-03 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Thorson, Kjerstin |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Floto, Jennifer Saltzman, Joseph |
| Abstract | This thesis is an examination of the portrayal of the female entertainment publicist shown in reality television. With the large success rate of Samantha Jones from Sex and the City in the 1990s, female interest in public relations has increased, and good or bad, Jones has served as one of the predominate images of the publicist in the entertainment industry. Those who have performed critical analysis of the image of the public relations practitioner have deemed these representations as showing negative characteristics of those in the profession. While there has been previous research on the image of public relations in media, analysis of the female entertainment publicist in reality television has been left untapped.; The project consisted of a content analysis as well as interviews with various women in entertainment public relations. Three reality television shows featuring female entertainment publicists were watched: MTV's PoweR Girls (2005), Bravo's Kell on Earth (2010) and E! Network's The Spin Crowd. After conducting this analysis, the author found that the female publicist is put in one of two gender categories, the masculine bitch or the overtly sexy "PR Bunny." Other findings inferred that the dominant images within each series suggested that public relations is overall an easy field to enter, with little or no experience or professionalism needed. Finally, although the three series had some subtle differences, public relations is still shown as a glamorous job.; Interviewee responses showed that the negative representations of entertainment publicists on reality television are not indicative of the real life job itself, but that media's representation of it has led others to believe false or skewed images of the profession. Since these three shows' target demographics include young women about make a career decision, the impact they may have on this demographic, and how it may affect the future of public relations and the expectations of those about the enter the industry, is also discussed. |
| Keyword | communication; entertainment; media; public relations; reality television |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Coverage date | 1990/2010 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3875 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Hashem, Camille Renée |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Hashem-4503 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume26/etd-Hashem-4503.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 62 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 62 public relations as a field that is superficial and all about celebrities (Morris & Goldsworthy, 2008, p.6). While the show garnered a large following and awareness of public relations increased, Jones’ character did not necessarily accurately represent the profession. As Sex and the City came to an end, a new type of genre surfaced on network television: reality television. In only a year after the Sex and the City season finale, reality television jumped from seven to 23 shows on broadcast television, not including those airing on cable networks (Ferris, Smith, Greenberg, & Smith, 2007, p. 490). Since then, reality television has become one of TV’s most popular genres (p. 490). While previous research analyzed the portrayals of fictional PR roles, reality television provides a new type of content to study. Since such a large number of women are in the field, study of women in public relations is indicative of the industry as a whole. With reality television as an integral part of society, this new genre needed to be examined since it was uninspected in previous research in media’s portrayal of public relations. More specifically, since there is an abundance of women in public relations, the role of the female publicist on reality television necessitated further research. The women on PoweR Girls and The Spin Crowd were shown as feminine and overtly sexy, while Kelly Cutrone and her business partners on Kell on Earth were shown with many of the masculine characteristics mentioned by Fateri and Kleiner (1992, p. 14), Reinharz and Kulick (2007, p. 257), and Katz. (2003, pp. 341 – 358). Although the glamorous parts on Kell on Earth appeared significantly less than those on PoweR Girls and The Spin Crowd, the series did illustrate Miller’s (1999) and Morris and |
